Category Archives: Appetizers

White Girl Can Cook Wings

Wings and Rings…

Back in 2008, I was cooking for a friend of mine for the first time. She and her now hubs, had just introduced me to JP, and I was making the meal so we could dish about my new man. (Talk about blind date success!) Little did I know, before dinner was served, she’d had a quick convo about whether she’d need a real dinner after my meal…It went something like this:

“White girl cooking chicken wings? You better have something ready when I get home.”

There apparently was some doubt that this black soul food queen trapped in the body of a white girl could throw down in the kitchen…Let’s just say, not only was she pleasantly surprised, but since then, I have catered her wedding shower, her rehearsal dinner and her baby shower….AND, I have officially been dubbed by her friends and family, “White Girl Can Cook Productions.”

It’s a title I wear proudly!

Oh, and those delish looking onion rings shown in the pic? Here’s THAT recipe.

Ingredients:
2 shallots
4 garlic cloves
2 Tb butter
1 chopped jalapeño
1 1/2 cups BBQ Sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray’s)
1 cup Buffalo Wing Sauce (I use Frank’s Red Hot Wings)
1/2 cup chili garlic sauce (I use Sriracha Hot Garlic Chili Sauce, aka “Rooster” sauce)
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 Jack Daniel’s Bourbon
1 family pack of chicken wings
flour for dredging

Wings: Preheat oven to 425. Dredge chicken wings in flour and place on a well greased pan. Bake for 30 minutes and flip over. Continue baking for 20-25 more minutes until crispy.

Sauce: Saute shallots (substitute a medium onion if you need to) and garlic cloves in 2 TB butter on medium heat until soft but not browned, about a minute. Add chopped jalapenos and saute for another minute. Add the rest of the ingredients and stir until well combined. Let simmer on stove top on low heat until wings are done. Dip wings in sauce after they come out of the oven and serve immediately with additional BBQ sauce on the side.

**Mix some fresh crumbled blue cheese with full-fat sour cream, a squeeze of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and dip wings if you’d like…

Easy to make and your friends will be blown away by the delish factor! (Especially if you’re a white girl!)

Salsas “del Toro” and Celebrity Free Passes

Leave a reply

Refreshing and Delicious Mango Salsa

I posted these recipes on my Facebook page over the summer, but these are great year round! Mango salsa is da bomb on fish tacos and the black bean salsa packs a flavor punch to burritos. Think Benecio del Toro on a plate. Is it getting caliente in here, or is it just me?

Delicioso

Benecio is my ‘celebrity free pass,’ by the way…any hot, rugged man with a last name that means “of the bull” is hawt. I won’t go into my personal thoughts about JP’s celebrity free pass choice of Megan (can’t act but sure has cute fake boobs) Fox.

It’s prolly no coincidence that Benecio actually looks like a Latino version of JP– with those brooding, hooded green eyes and full luscious lips. *sigh.

Pretty boys just don’t do it for me.

What’s on Parker’s Plate….

Hungry yet? I am!

MANGO SALSA

2-3 mangos diced

2 pinches of fresh chopped cilantro

1 jalapeño chopped (no seeds)

2 Tb red onion

Squeeze ½ lime

Mix together and top on tacos or eat alone as a mango salad

BLACK BEAN SALSA

1 can of Black Beans drained

½ red bell pepper chopped

2 pinches of fresh chopped cilantro

1 jalapeño chopped (no seeds)

1-2 cloves fresh garlic

1 tsp chipotle chili powder

Sprinkle of sea salt or kosher salt

Mix together and serve hot as a side dish or cold as a salsa. Combine with mango salsa too, for double the delicious!

And Benecio, querido, cariño, lemme know if you ever need a homecooked meal….

The Ultimate Dude Dip

2 Replies

: The Ultimate “Dude Dip”

I nicknamed this “Dude Dip” because it’s such a hit with my man and his buddies, but it’s too good to relegate to “Dude Only” status. I was catering a party a few years ago and my appetizer fell apart at the last minute, so I whipped together this dip, stuffed it into some mushrooms and called it GOURMET! The jet set guests went crazy for it…I just smiled and let their distinguished palates assume I had zested in some pricey imported truffle. No one has to know how easy (and cheap) it really is!

Only 3 ingredients….

1 package of Spicy sausage (I prefer Jimmy Dean)

1 can “Original” Rotel Tomatoes

1 8oz package of full fat cream cheese (Warning: If you use low-fat cream cheese, it gets watery and gross!)

Directions:

Saute sausage until browned. Drain and mix with cream cheese and entire can of Rotel (juice included). I put it all in a casserole dish, let the cream cheese melt and then pop it into the oven at 400 for about 10 minutes just before guests arrive so it’s hot. Serve with tortilla chips.

Dude-licious.

Smoked Gruyere & Guinness Potato Soup

Leave a reply

Beer and Cheese, why yes please!

Boozy and Smoky usually brings up visions of a dive bar. For me, I think Potato Soup.

Potato soup was my grandmother Ronnie’s specialty– and spending summers and Christmas vacations in Connecticut, it didn’t matter whether it was 90 degrees or -9 below zero— I always requested her potato soup. She didn’t add the bacon, cheese or BEER to her soup, so I just decided to up her game a bit. Hope you don’t mind, Ronnie!

Boozy, Smoky Potato Soup

Ingredients

4 Idaho baking potatoes
½ Vidalia onion chopped
3 chopped garlic cloves
1 Tb butter
¼ cup flour
¾ cup Guinness beer
2 cups of half and half
2 tsp Worcestershire
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup chicken stock
1 cup smoked Gruyere cheese (plus more for topping)
Cooked and crumbled bacon (bake strips at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, blot with paper towel and then crumble)
Chopped chives

Instructions

Peel and chop 4 Idaho baking potatoes.
Boil water in a large soup pan or dutch oven and toss potatoes in—simmer until tender, 20-30 minutes.
Meanwhile, chop up ½ of a large Vidalia onion with 3 chopped garlic cloves and saute in 1 Tb butter. Stir for about a minute on medium heat until onion and garlic gets light golden in color.
Add ¼ cup of flour and stir for one minute.
Add ¾ cup Guinness beer, 2 cups of half and half, 2 tsp of Worcestershire, 1 tsp of ground mustard and 1 tsp of kosher salt. Stir until mixture thickens, 3-4 minutes.
When potatoes are soft, drain them and set aside 2 cups.
Take rest of potatoes and mix with onion/garlic/Guinness mixture. Add one cup of chicken stock.
Put soup in blender or food processor in 2 batches (don’t fill too high or blender will explode!) and blend till smooth.
Pour soup back into soup pan/dutch oven and add the 2 cups of softened potatoes. Add 1 cup of smoked gruyere cheese shredded. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
Top with crumbled bacon, chopped green onions and more gruyere.

https://whatsonparkersplate.flywheelsites.com/2013/09/boozy-smoky-potato-soup/

Holy Guacamole!

Leave a reply

Holy Guacamole with Holy Homemade chips

Guacamole:

4 avocados
1/4 cup chopped red onion
Palmful of fresh cilantro chopped
1 diced jalapeño (no seeds)
Juice of one lime squeezed
1 tomato chopped
Kosher salt to taste

Mash avocados with lime juice and fold in rest of ingredients.

Homemade Chips:

Corn or flour tortillas
Canola or corn oil

Cut corn or flour tortillas into triangles. Meanwhile, heat 2-3 inches of canola or corn oil in a deep rimmed frying pan or Dutch oven on medium heat until it sizzles if you flick a little water on it. Pop tortillas into oil and flip over when browned on one side. They may bubble up, which I love! Drain on paper towel and sprinkle kosher salt on chips.

Dip in guac and enjoy!

Fresh Mozzarella, Basil and Watermelon Skewers

Leave a reply

Alternate balls of watermelon, fresh mozzarella and basil

Salad on a stick? BAM.

Just get out your melon baller and scoop some juicy, seedless watermelon. Then alternate those delish balls of fresh mozzarella with basil. Drizzle some balsamic vinegar on it if you’re feeling crazy! Your guests will be super impressed, indeed!